Bible Dictionary
NANAEA
Nanaea was a female deity worshiped in various ancient Near Eastern lands and identified with other pagan goddesses. Second Maccabees associates her temple in Persia with a legendary account of Antiochus Epiphanes’ death.
Definition
Nanaea was a female deity worshiped by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and other Asiatic peoples. She was identified in different traditions with Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Anahita. The name means “the undefiled.”
Biblical Usage
Second Maccabees gives an account of Antiochus Epiphanes’ death in a temple of Nanaea in Persia, but the supplied material regards this account as legendary and notes that First Maccabees gives a different account.
Historical Background
Nanaea’s temple could serve as a public treasury. The story says that Antiochus sought its wealth under the pretext of marrying the goddess, but the historical identification of the temple and the account of his death remain disputed.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>na-ne'-a (Nanaia; the King James Version Nanea): A female deity worshipped by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians and other Asiatic peoples, the Nana or Nanai of the Babylonians, known as "the lady of Babylon." The name means "the undefiled," and probably represented originally the productive powers of Nature (genetrix), and as such was the companion of the sun-god. She was identified with Ishtar in Assyria and Ashtoreth in Phoenicia, by the Greeks as Aphrodite (Clement of Alexandria Protr., 19), but sometimes as Artemis the huntress (Paus. iii.16,8; Plut. Artax. xxvii). Strabo (xv. 733) identifies her with Anaitis (equalsAnahita), the Asian Artemis. She was the Venus, but sometimes the Diana, of the Romans. There are many variants of the name: Anaea (Strabo xvi.738), Aneitis (Plut. Artax. xxvii), Tanais (Clement of Alexandria, loc. cit.), also Tanath, sometimes in Phoenician inscriptions, Tanata, Anta (Egyptian). In 2 Macc 1:13 ff, a fictitious account is given of the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, in a temple of Nanaea in Persia, by the treachery of Nanaea's priests. The public treasury was often placed in Nanaea's temple; this, Epiphanes was anxious to secure under the pretext of marrying the goddess and receiving the money as dowry. The priests threw down great stones "like thunderbolts" from above, killed the king and his state and then cut off their heads. But 1 Macc 1 ff, which is more reliable, gives a different account of the death of Epiphanes after an attempt to rob a rich temple in Elymais. The account of 2 Macc 1:13 ff must be mere legend, as far as Epiphanes is concerned, but may have been suggested or colored by the story of the death of Antiochus the Great, who met his death while plundering a temple of Belus near Elymais (Strabo xvi.l.18; Diod. Sic. 573; Justin, xxxii.2). The temple of Nanaea referred to in 2 Macc 1:13 ff may be identified with that of Artemis (Polyb. xxxi.11; Josephus, Ant, XII, ix, 1) or Aphrodite (Appian, Syriac. 66; Rawlinson, Speaker's Comm.).</p><p>S. Angus</p>